Dear Anu, my girlfriend and I have been dating for the past 4 years in a live-in relationship.
Before that we were good friends and she's 3 years elder to me.
There came a situation that she was depressed due to something and I was supporting her which she thought as my love.
We started this relationship although there was no serious commitment from my side.
We had a good relationship, good moments. She paid my bills all the time even when I insisted, but there were lots of fights.
I feel she never understood me or anything I said or my thought process.
I don't think I really love her, because there is no spark and tried ending it many times.
In frustration I even started looking for other people so that maybe I can come out of it but she would find out and make me stay with her with some or other reason.
She's a very polite and sweet person and I don't want to be hurting her.
She's asking me to marry her which is making me nervous. What do I do ?

Dear GP,

A healthy relationship is one where both individuals help each other grow and thrive.

Pointing out the other’s inadequacies can be detrimental to their emotional health.

You keep walking on egg shells around her and have started to keep things away from her for fear of her rebuke and complaints.

How is this healthy when you can’t share your thoughts with your partner? This will become a habit and not a very good one for sure.

Also, age does not define whether one can boss around or not.

She certainly maybe right in most cases, but there is a way to convey the same thing to you.

Love and calmness in communication can actually transform everything and everyone provided the intent is there.

Marriage under these circumstances can be stressful for you.

So I do suggest that the two of you have an honest talk and when she knows how you feel and how keeping things away from her has become your coping mechanism, I do feel she might be able to see the situation in a new light.

Also, things that you might have misinterpreted about her may also surface.

So, please have that necessary talk without wasting anymore time. It will give you good perspectives to work from.

All the best!

Dear A,

Kindly as yourself: what was the Live-in relationship?

Was it a relationship for her and not for you?

I really don’t understand what you mean by: She thought of your support as Love and that you were not serious commitment from your side.

It’s possible when you both were in a Live-in arrangement, she would have considered this as a relationship and become serious about it.

Since now it has gotten into a marriage stage for her, please respect her mind space and have a serious talk about this.

Take consideration of her feelings when you convey yours.

This is going to take some effort as you ease her into a space where she understands where you are in this connection.

Getting into another relationship for a distraction might not be a great idea; so do spend some time very amicably closing this one where the two of you can be mature about this.

All the best!